SCT: How Cells Prepare for Emergencies
Spartans, incredible hulks,
and oarsmen are some of the
first responders to a crisis
Reprinted from Science & Culture Today.
With Foresight, Cells Prepare for Emergency
by David Coppedge
Science & Culture Today, August 4, 2025
Fire departments and rescue operations don’t just appear from nowhere. They require foresight, training, and practice to be able to save entities from trouble. Cells know that. Most of the time they prevent disasters, thanks to numerous automated systems that cooperate to solve problems and keep life humming.
Integrated Biowaste Disposal
Ever seen the metal boxes of biowaste outside medical clinics waiting to be picked up by external disposal services? Cells have a better process for outsourcing toxic biowaste removal. They have an integrated handoff mechanism.
Mitochondria are hotbeds of toxic chemicals known as reactive oxygen species (ROS). Generated by the molecular machines in the electron transport chain that produces ATP for the cell’s energy needs, ROS must be handled with care. Scientists at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto discovered “a surprising way compartments within cells work together to defend themselves against oxidative stress” from ROS. Organelles called perixosomes equipped to detoxify these dangerous chemicals such as H2O2 dock onto mitochondria at “a newly identified contact point between the two organelles.”
Through this mechanism, peroxisomes can spare mitochondria from oxidative stress by acting as specialized sinks for ROS produced in mitochondria. This challenges the long-standing idea that cellular defense is confined within individual compartments and is the first to show movement of ROS between organelles as a defense mechanism. [Emphasis added.]
Two proteins at the contact points must, obviously, be hardened against the toxic molecules themselves. If they were to mutate or break, neurodegeneration could result.
The team identified that the contact site is formed by two proteins: PTPIP51 on mitochondria and ACBD5 on peroxisomes. These proteins create a bridge that allows ROS to move directly between the organelles, sparing mitochondria while preventing damage to other parts of the cell.
Shades of irreducible complexity are evident in this statement by co-author of the Science paper1 Dr. Michael Schrader: “We are moving away from the idea that organelles operate in isolation and toward a more integrated view of how they communicate and coordinate to protect the cell.” …
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See also Jerry Bergman’s Nov 28 article on DNA Damage Repair.
Each of the 14 major organelles also manifest enormous complexity as shown in this example. From Wikimedia Commons.